To make a Hero
by Tipsy Writer
Summary: The shinobi profession is, at best, morally ambiguous. Young Naruto isn't interested in becoming an assassin, or a torturer, or a kidnapper. He wants to be a hero, and a tiny thing like abandoning Konoha isn't going to stop him from achieving his dream.
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to the first chapter of 'To make a Hero'. **

**I did not create Naruto, nor am I making any money off of this story.**

**This is just something I find entertaining to do whilst drunk off my ass. Please enjoy to the best of your ability.**

The small blonde gazed across the width of the forest clearing, eying the damaged trees and uprooted bushes. The faint whisker-like marks on his cheeks bent outward as he allowed himself to grin at the damage his attack had accidentally wrought. Part of him wanted to jump up and down exclaiming his victory to the world, informing everyone in shouting distance (which, given the strength of his lungs, was a fair number) of the awesomeness and potency of one Uzumaki Naruto; of how easily he had surpassed their disgustingly low expectations of him; of how they should be only so lucky as to have someone possessing his sheer level of awesomeness deign to become a Shinobi of Konohagakure.

The urge was fleeting though, and likely only appeared as some kind of conditioned response. He hadn't honestly cared what the village thought of him for some time – as long as their thoughts steered away from violence or an over interest in his activities at least – but these past few years playing the village idiot had gotten him accustomed to generally acting in a ridiculous manner. It was a habit he would need to break soon.

Besides, victory over an opponent as weak as Mizuki wasn't anything to be overly proud of.

"Naruto…"

The blonde jumped slightly when the low, obviously injured voice croaked out his name.

_Shit_. He thought to himself while quickly turning around and running to the wounded man's side. _I completely forgot about Iruka-sensei._

Iruka Umino was an interesting person, and one of the few who Naruto thought might genuinely care for him. Or at least care for the person Iruka thought he was. Despite the rather grisly scar that ran horizontally across the middle of the man's face – and the slightly scary appearance it lent him – Naruto doubted there was a kinder hearted shinobi in all of Konoha. Point in fact: the increasing mother-bear like feelings the chuunin was expressing towards his false self were beginning to make Naruto feel ridiculously guilty about the mass-deception he'd been propagating.

Not enough for him to consider stopping it of course. Just enough that he spent the occasional sleepless night feeling like a right bastard.

"Naruto." The man said again, once the blonde was close enough. "I can't even begin to tell you how proud of you I am."

The smile on the chuunin instructor's face made another brief flash of guilt surge through Naruto's conscience. _Aw man… He has tears in his eyes and everything_. Naruto frowned slightly as he slowly got the man to his feet. _I'm sorry Iruka-san_, _but the Naruto you care for doesn't really exist._

He brushed the guilt away quickly, and instead gave Iruka one of the big, cheesy grins that his public face was known for. "Don't worry about it Iruka-sensei!" he said, giving the man a quick thumbs up as well. "Once you get out of the hospital you and I can go down to Ichiraku's. Maybe after a few bowls of miso ramen you can find the words to tell me how awesome I am."

Iruka laughed a bit at that, before pausing and looking over at the blonde; his face now cast in a much more serious manner. "Naruto," He said, turning the boy to look at him directly. "close your eyes for a minute, okay?"

Naruto watched as Iruka's hands moved up to fiddle a bit with his forehead protector. _Uh oh…_ _He better not be thinking what I think he's thinking… Quick! Deflect! Deflect!_

Naruto hurriedly grabbed one of the man's arms, stopping it mid-movement. "Let's get you to the hospital first, Iruka-sensei, you've already lost a lot of blood. Plus, Jiji is probably going to want this back as soon as possible." With the last sentence he held up the forbidden scroll, while also letting go of the chuunin's arm to sheepishly rub the back of his head.

Iruka was going to protest, but the mention of the Hokage brought him up short. _I should probably run Naruto's promotion by Hokage-sama first anyway_. He thought pensively. _I hate to make Naruto wait, but it would be even worse if I told him he passed only to have my decision annulled by someone higher up the food-chain…_

"Alright Naruto-kun, but we're going to see Hokage-sama first. I'm not as bad off as I look anyway." _That and I don't want you to run into any of the violence-prone, and likely highly-unsympathetic ambu that have been sent after the scroll._

"If you say so, Iruka-sensei." Naruto replied, before following the now much-steadier Chuunin out of the village clearing.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

The next couple hours went by in a bit of a blur. It turned out that the Hokage was already fully informed of the situation (the possibilities of how that could be making Naruto stare extra hard at every suspicious shadow in paranoia) and was in fact rather proud of Naruto for – as he put it – "protecting some of Konoha's most vital secrets". The blonde had only managed to make his escape when Iruka had asked to briefly speak privately with the Hokage. The Knowing look in both of their eyes sent shivers down the young boy's back.

Not that he imagined that _they _thought they were planning anything particularly malicious. Well, definitely not Iruka at least. As much as Naruto desperately wanted to hold on to the love, respect, and admiration he'd always felt towards the aged Hokage; he also had to balance that against the fact that the man was one of the oldest, most talented, and most respected members of a profession that prided itself on their skills in deception, and their ability to be utterly ruthless.

It had hurt to do so, but he'd decided years ago that he had to take every movement, action, and word made by the old man with a rather generous handful of salt.

Once they'd left the room, he wasted no time in telling the remaining Anbu that he was exhausted from the fight and needed to head home to get some sleep. Even then was only allowed to leave after the Shinobi secured his promise to return early the next morning.

At that, the shivers on his spine leveled up, transforming into massive tremors. The Hokage's guards knew exactly what the old man and Iruka were planning, and they were doing their best to help it along.

He quickened his pace once he'd exited the tower, beginning to hop from rooftop to rooftop, lost in his thoughts.

_It has to be tonight. Going after the scroll was a worthwhile risk – if only because I had a fool-proof escape plan – but it didn't come without consequence. If there's one thing I need to avoid, its being officially named a Konoha Shinobi._

Of the many things the village was ignorant about concerning Uzumaki Naruto, the fact that he had no interest in entering into Konoha's most revered profession would probably surprise its citizens the most. Especially after all those 'I shall become Hokage!' speeches he'd shouted from on top the Hokage monument.

What might surprise them only slightly less was that his refusal wasn't just aimed at Konoha. While he'd readily admit that his life behind her walls wasn't exactly the best, he didn't really bear any ill will towards the village. All in all, considering what most of its citizens truly believed him to be, they hadn't really treated him all _that _badly. Mostly his treatment was regulated to a rather serious case of neglect and non-interest. So, no. It wasn't just Konoha.

He wasn't interested in being a Shinobi _at all_. And he hadn't been; not since he accidentally invented his first jutsu, and realized what a shinobi really was.

He was still surprised that no one ever realized how different his 'sexy no jutsu' was from the standard henge. It was just common sense that if he couldn't create a standard bunshin (and he couldn't. While he was far more advanced than his teachers believed, that was one thing he didn't have to fake to fail the exam), then the genjutsu-esc henge illusion should have been far beyond his abilities. It used half as much chakra after all.

And then there were the reactions of the various shinobi he'd used it on to think about.

Most shinobi, by the time they've reached chuunin level, have learned to instinctively look through minor illusions. The henge jutsu is really only useful against civilians and other genin. A more experienced shinobi will instinctively feel the chakra surrounding the person, and thus their minds will subconsciously dismiss the form in front of them as something false.

The reason why the more perverted members of Konoha's military force react so… interestingly to Naruto's jutsu, is because that subconscious reaction isn't present. Because there is no illusion.

Because it's real.

He didn't realize it in the beginning himself. It was only after he'd thrown an eraser at the head of a henged Sasuke during a lesson – and watched it pass through – that he began realizing that he had done something unusual.

At first he was ecstatic. He imagined the look his Jiji's face when he showed him what he'd done. He imagined graduating the academy early due to his awesome new technique. He imagined all the awesome missions he'd get to go on; after all, such a jutsu would make him the penultimate stealth specialist!

And then he did something he hadn't done for a good number of years. He thought a little deeper about those missions, and what they would consist of.

It had never been fair to say that Naruto was unintelligent, even when he was younger and the loud, obnoxious, and delinquent version of him was more reality than mask.

He had simply never had anyone interested in teaching him.

First, in the orphanage, where the teacher would ignore him if he asked a question – and send him out of the room if he asked too many. And then in the academy, where even the fairer teachers took the lack of knowledge he'd managed to gleam from his neglectful caretakers to be lack of intelligence; and thus cast him in the role of dead-last without any further thought.

This lack of education was compounded on by the fact that it _hurt_ sometimes to think too much about stuff… Like why the caretakers at the orphanage wouldn't let him play with the other kids, or why shopkeepers would always seem to charge him more than other people; if he was allowed in the store at all.

The only reason he even gave it a second thought was probably because Iruka and the other teachers had just started to give them the 'Shinobi facts of life' speech. Slowly starting to work in the knowledge that – if they graduated – they would soon be soldiers of Konoha; and expected to do what was required of them.

A portion of the speech was focused on how what you specialized in as a Shinobi would determine how the Hokage utilized you. Taijutsu, Kenjutsu and Ninjutsu experts could expect to be sent on high combat missions – usually against rival Shinobi – or on protection missions defending their clients against bandits and such. Tracking and survival experts were sent on apprehension missions – including kidnapping and the execution of missing-nin. Genjutsu experts would be sent on information gathering missions, as well as assisting in any of the above missions; at least as long as their skills matched up.

And stealth experts…

Stealth experts were mostly sent on assassination missions.

It wasn't until that moment that he'd really thought about what he was trying so desperately to become. He, like most children born in Konoha, grew up on tales of heroic and valorous shinobi. On tales of bravery and self-sacrifice, missions to rescue princesses and overthrow evil tyrants. Heck, some of Naruto's favorites had been told to him by the third Hokage himself! Thus lending an even greater sense of realism, and an even more potent sense of loss when the shinobi hero would lay down his life for his village; as they so often did in those tales.

He'd spent most of his life wanting to be like the people in those stories. To be a hero that the people of the village would eventually come to love and appreciate. To do something great, and memorable. And, perhaps, to one day lay down his life to protect his loved ones, just like so many had done before.

It hadn't occurred to him until then that all the bad guys in those stories; the people they were told to hate, the princess's kidnappers, the tyrant's hired army… They were all shinobi too. One's whose village probably told the same stories in reverse.

And then he had to ask himself: "What's so heroic about being a mercenary? Is it really so valorous to rescue a princess, when, the next week, you're killing some random business man simply because his rival could pay you enough to do so?"

It was a depressing couple of weeks before he figured out the answer to that question, and couple more after that before he came to an epiphany.

Just because shinobi weren't heroes, didn't mean he couldn't become one.

A real hero. Not someone who only helped people because he was paid to do so. Not someone who was willing to do unconscionable things simply because 'his village needed him to', or the even more morally-perverted 'because they can pay enough'. Someone who did his best to help people, just because they needed help.

Really, it wasn't a very hard step to take. He was simply taking what he had already planned to do for the village as a shinobi – prior his rather disturbing realization – and applying it to the greater world. Honestly, it was even a bit easier for him to, both logically and emotionally, justify. He might not hate the citizens of Konoha, but he couldn't say that he really liked them that much either. It may be slightly selfish, but it he was going to risk his life to protect someone, he'd prefer that the person he was protecting didn't hate him.

And so that was when he began to train in secret, and when he began to quietly pay more attention at the academy – after all, the most potent fighters on the continent were still the shinobi, and knowing what they were taught would of great help to him when and if he was forced to face off against one.

It was also the only reason he'd agreed to Mizuki's crazy plan to steal the forbidden scroll.

He knew it was risky, but figured that, if worst came to worst, he could always just transform into a mouse and scamper off into the darkness. Plus, he also knew that he wouldn't make much of a hero with just the kawarimi jutsu and his transformation ability, and thus figured some super-secret Konoha techniques might help give him a boost.

And boy was he right. Especially with what he noticed the first time he successfully used the Kage Bunshin jutsu while holding onto the forbidden scroll.

Finding that the clone was holding an identical copy of the scroll had come as quite the surprise.

As he approached his apartment, he quickly crossed his fingers, hoping against hope that his spur of the moment plan had borne fruit. He took a deep breath in front of his door, before quickly grasping the handle and wrenching it open.

To utter chaos.

There must have been thirty-five to forty different clones of the blonde squeezing into each and every clear spot in the boy's tiny living room, each holding bundles of scrolls and hastily copying the contents of each onto separate rolls of paper. To make more room, Naruto's couch had been stood up on one end in the center of the chaos, and from its precipice another clone sat cross-legged while shouting orders at the others.

"Separate the jutsu by category! Fire with fire, wind with wind, etcetera! Don't get elaborate re-drawing the figures for each taijutsu scroll, just trace an outline! We don't need to know the color of the original model's eyes! And make sure to copy down ones we might _actually_ learn first! I don't think any of us think that _frog style_ is going to be particularly awesome, and we're running low on time!"

The original Naruto stood with his mouth gaping open, only barely remembering to close the door behind him, while what seemed to be the head clone kept issuing orders.

"I want all the chakra control scrolls put with the fuinjutsu ones! And DO be careful copying down the latter! I don't want us blowing ourselves up because we fucked up the Kanji!" The clone then scanned the room to make sure his orders were being followed, starting slightly when he noticed the gaping Naruto standing by the door.

"Shit! The boss is here already!" He then hopped off his seat, and made his way towards the original, shouting out a final "Work faster everybody, we're in the zero hour here!" as he landed.

The original Naruto looked around once more at the now frantically scribbling – with the exception of those working on the Fuinjutsu scrolls – clones before turning back to the head clone who'd now reached him.

"Did the Hokage's office really have this many scrolls!? I thought there were only, like, a few big honkin' ones in there!?"

The clone grinned a bit at him before responding. "Naw. All the ones from the old man's office are being copied down in our bedroom. Most of the ones in here are from Sasuke-temes place."

Naruto's eyes bulged. "What!? I never told you to ransack the Uchiha compound! And what do you mean 'most of the ones!? Who else did you guys rob!?"

The clone looked a bit sheepish as he scratched at his whiskered cheek. "Well," he said hesitantly. "It went so smooth at the Hokage tower that we all decided a couple more lower-risk targets wouldn't be out of the question. Besides, 'ransack' and 'rob' are kinda harsh words, don't you think? It's not like we actually took anything; all of the original scrolls in here will go up in smoke as soon as we do."

Naruto just stared at his clone for a minute before lowering his head into his hands. "Who else did you rob?" He finally asked. "And where did all this paper and ink come from anyway? I doubt I had more than a couple sheets stored away in here, and I know I didn't have any of the blank scrolls I saw them writing on…"

"We hit the Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka places." The clone said, rubbing at the back of his head. "They were all next to each other, so it was kinda convenient. Just as easy as we thought it would be too. Simply transformed into bugs, made our way to their library, and waited for the room to empty out before touching the scrolls and each making another kage bunshin. We thought for a minute that we were in trouble at the Nara place, but the lazy bastard who saw a line of grasshoppers leaving the main house just said 'troublesome' and walked on by."

"And the scrolls?" Naruto asked, finally bringing his head up from his hands.

"We actually bought those." The clone said with a grin. "Got to the shops just before closing. Had to transform into some random civilians of course."

"But how? You don't have any mone-" Naruto stopped when the clone took out a slightly slimmer looking copy of his gama-chan pouch.

"I figure they pretty much screwed us over on prices when we were younger anyway, so this just makes us even." The clone's grin widened.

Naruto stared at his clone in shock for a moment, before returning his head to his hands, groaning. "Well…" he finally said. "I suppose we _really _need to leave tonight now… How much fake money did you spend out there anyway?"

The clone looked up in thought for a second, before shrugging. "No idea. Should be quite a bit though. After we hit the bookstores for blank scrolls and ink, we headed over to a couple of the shinobi shops that would never serve us before. Cleaned those bastards out of medical kits, survival gear, rations, things like that. Also got a bunch of extra kunai and shuriken, and enough storage scrolls to wrap all this shit up." He paused for a second, thinking again, before snapping his fingers. "Oh! We also made sure to get you some new outfits! Even if we _didn't_ despise the orange monstrosity we're all currently bundled up in, it would stick out like a sore thumb once the old man starts sending out people to search for us. Even if we are planning on changing our shape."

The real Naruto nodded his head a bit at that, still rubbing his face and thinking about the shit-storm that would be raging tomorrow when a few choice shopkeepers checked their registers. "Well," he said, "I hope to have stopped the search from getting TOO ridiculous. I managed to get away from Iruka or the Hokage before either of them could tell me I had mysteriously passed the genin exam, or give me a forehead protector."

The clone snorted a bit at this. "You know full well that won't really do much to stop the village from sending out hunter-nin. Even if you _hadn't_ shown that you held at least some level of competency tonight against Mizuki-teme, I rather doubt the old monkey ever had any plans to let the village's jinchuuriki run away."

Naruto paused for a second, before nodding again. "Hai… You're right."

It wasn't that long after he'd figured out his transformation ability that he learned what he was. Or, rather, that he learned what the vast majority of the village _believed_ he was.

Learning what he _really _was had taken quite a bit more time. And a decent number of trips to some of the more secured filing rooms transformed into one of the villages elite jonin.

"Hai." Naruto said again, before shaking his head a bit. "And that said, we really need to get out of here as soon as possible. How much more time will the other clones need?"

The boss clone looked around a bit, before turning back to Naruto with a slightly guilty expression. "We may have bitten off a bit more than we can chew, to be honest." He said, rubbing his head. "And we're more or less out of space, so making more clones wouldn't really help at all. What do you want us to prioritize?"

"Ignore the Akimichi hidden techniques." Naruto said after a moment. "Even if we could learn them, it seems like they would require changing to a specialized and isolated combat style. Plus, I don't really feel like getting all fat just for a couple of cool taijutsu moves."

The clone sweat-dropped a bit at the final statement, but still shouted out the order, watching as a few clones stopped what they were doing and moved over to help someone else.

"Also don't bother with anything to do with the Uchiha's doujutsu or their fighting style. Seems like most of their unique techniques would rely mostly on those freaky eyes of theirs." He paused for a moment as the clone nodded and shouted out another order. "After that, focus mostly on scrolls telling us how to improve our chakra control, and learn our elemental affinities. Make sure to copy jutsu from the higher ranks down, we have so much chakra that those are probably going to be of more use. And finally choose a few taijutsu styles you think might suit us, and concentrate mostly on those. I don't really see the point in studying a dozen different styles that will probably only contradict each other."

The clone nodded once more and instructed his men, before turning back to Naruto. "And as for fuinjutsu? To be honest, it's probably the biggest time sink we have."

Naruto frowned a bit, subconsciously placing his hand on his stomach, over the seal. "Do the best you can." He said finally. "If it looks like we won't have enough time to finish before morning, then focus on the basics, and anything directly connected to our seal."

The clone nodded one last time, before turning back to the room to supervise and assist the other kage bunshin.

Naruto simply stood by the doorway, staring out at his mass of clones as they desperately tried to finish their work in time, and praying to Kami-sama that this last minute scheme of his would work out.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Professor, Sandaime Hokage of Konahagakure, smiled as he puffed absently on his pipe, and stared out over his village.

The events of tonight – despite the temporary theft of one of Konoha's most precious scrolls, and his rather humiliating reaction to an immature and silly jutsu – had left him in a better mood than he'd been in quite a while.

He had been worried about Naruto for some time. The poor boy had changed a bit over the last few years, his normal upbeat and confident reactions seeming a bit off, and his joyful smiles seeming more and more forced. The Hokage had noticed that the boy seemed a bit hesitant around even him. As if wondering why one of the most important men in the village would willingly spend time around someone who was so disliked by the rest of it.

He had worried that the boy's seemingly indomitable spirit was beginning to falter, and the guilt that such a thought caused him had stabbed at his already battered and torn soul.

But it seemed he had been mistaken. Watching as – even after the secret of the Kyuubi's fate had been revealed – Naruto fought to defend his village, to defend his sensei… It had warmed the Hokage's heart. Made him think that perhaps, even after all the mistakes he and the village had made concerning the boy, that his father's soul still burned bright inside him.

It was a comforting thought. Both for now, and for the future.

He had been slightly annoyed that the boy had left his office before he could speak to him – both about the damaging information Mizuki had let loose, and the happy decision both he and Iruka had come to – but could certainly understand the boy's exhaustion. After all, he had just defeated a chuunin opponent, and made one of the most prodigious uses of a B-rank kinjutsu he'd ever seen. All before even making genin.

He chuckled to himself slightly. _I suppose little Naruto-kun deserves a good night's sleep after all that. I'll see him tomorrow anyway, and giving him some time to think things over, especially concerning the Kyuubi, might be better for him than dealing with it right away._

Sarutobi nodded to himself. The new genin had a week off before they would be assigned teams anyway. Waiting till morning to give Naruto the good news about his promotion wouldn't hurt anything.

_ . . . . .  
_


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the second chapter. currently on a bit of a bender, I suppose the writing will stop when the whiskey runs out.**

**I still don't own Naruto.**

Naruto ignored the mass of clones around him while they rushed about – either hastily finishing up what they were working on, or quickly sealing completed projects into one of a number of sealing scrolls, all of which would then be sealed into an even larger scroll – and instead focused on the image in the mirror.

Gone was anything which could identify him as Uzumaki Naruto. His once bright blonde hair was now an earthy brown. His bright cerulean eyes now an emerald green. His height and general body mass might be unchanged (as doing such would throw him entirely off during combat) but the clothes covering that body couldn't be any more different.

Gone was the baggy, ultraviolet, orange jumpsuit. And in its place was a rather simple, but far more flattering, set of basic traveler's clothes. The dull tan pants and faded green shirt wouldn't attract much attention on the road; and only someone far closer to his body than most would think appropriate would notice the chain mesh sewn inside the shirt, or the number of hidden pockets the pants concealed. Over this he tossed on a long, and rather dusty and beaten up looking, leather coat. Then he turned to look back at the, now far quieter, room behind him.

Most of the clones had already dissipated, and now that he was paying attention, he could feel their memories begin to meld with his own; telling him which scrolls were placed where, which jutsu each clone thought would be useful in the future, and how terribly annoying it was to copy things down for six straight hours.

He shook his head slightly. He had read over all the information given about the Kage Bunshin no jutsu, and was thus slightly prepared for what was about to happen, but still, that was a bit of a rush.

He turned to the boss clone – now distinguished by a red bandana on his head, after a couple of miss-identifications – who was hovering over a group of six Naruto's, each of which was slowly and patiently copying seals onto scrolls which were getting increasingly larger.

"How much more time?" Naruto asked, joining the clone in staring at the complex Kanji the six were slowly drawing on the parchment.

"Not too much longer." The boss clone said. Not looking away from his workers. "Maybe ten minutes or so. While you wait, go ahead and read over this."

Naruto gave the clone a puzzled look as he reached out to grab the piece of paper it was holding. "What is it?" he asked, before turning the paper over.

"Just something I thought might keep the hunter-nin from getting too violent should they catch up with us."

Naruto just nodded before beginning to read the letter. It didn't take him very long to finish it, and he turned back to the clone with an approving, but slightly sad look on his face.

"It'll work," Naruto said. "I don't really like giving either the old man or Iruka such a guilt trip, but it'll certainly keep anyone he sends after us from actually attacking."

"Which is the important part." The clone interrupted pointedly.

"Which is the important part." Naruto agreed, begrudgingly.

"Now that that's done," the clone said. "Do you have any idea where we're heading first?"

"Well…" Naruto said with a smile.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Iruka woke up with a sick feeling in his stomach. He knew it had nothing to do with his injuries from the night before – those were mostly taken care of during his brief visit to the hospital, none of the wounds being too terribly severe. No, this was the feeling he always got before Naruto did something that Shikamaru would label "troublesome". The last time he'd had the sensation, he had woken up to find that Naruto had painted the entirety of the Hokage monument during the night.

He groaned as he slowly dragged his way out of bed – mostly healed still being entirely separate from 'entirely healed' after all – and began to get dressed. Looking over at his alarm clock, he realized that he'd slept in quite a bit later than he'd expected. Naruto should be long done talking with Hokage-sama by now, and probably back at home already.

He'd check there first, and offer to take the blonde out for lunch at Ichiraku's.

That is if the boy hadn't done anything ridiculously stupid.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

The Sandaime Hokage frowned, setting down his pipe and staring out one of his windows. He realized that his Anbu hadn't really set any strict time period for Naruto to appear; but generally a 'meeting in the morning' meant sometime _before_ noon.

He huffed to himself a bit, and then smiled wryly. The boy was probably still asleep.

_Well,_ He thought to himself after a moment. _I could go for some ramen anyway. I might as well head down there and wake him up myself. _

He then took a brief look at the piles of documents on his desk. Before glaring at them slightly.

_It'll get me away from this paperwork for a bit anyway. _

Someone had apparently decided that all the excitement last night would be great cover for a string of robberies, and the civilian council was breathing down his neck.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Iruka blinked as he walked up the stairway which led to Naruto's front door, only to see his elderly Hokage just preparing to knock.

The older man smiled kindly at him for a moment, obviously having been aware of his presence for some time, before continuing to knock on the door, and then speaking.

"Ah, good afternoon, Iruka-kun; it's nice to see that there were no complications from your injuries. Are you here to visit Naruto-kun as well?"

Iruka stared for a moment, before quickly dropping into a bow. "Um, ah! Good afternoon to you as well, Hokage-sama! And yes, thank you, the Doctors did a wonderful job as always… But… forgive me for asking… wasn't Naruto supposed to meet with you this morning?" At this he looked up with a puzzled expression, obviously curious as to why the man was here.

The Sandaime chuckled a bit before answering. "It seems that young Naruto-kun was a bit more tired out by the events of last night than I expected. I felt that our conversation could just as easily be held here, and decided to come wake our new genin up." Here he frowned slightly at the door and the still silent apartment behind it, still obviously in good humor, if now slightly irritated. "Though he seems to be holding more stubbornly to sleep than I'd hoped, if the knocking and our conversation hasn't woken him."

Iruka's cheeks colored a bit. After all, Naruto was still his student, and thus his actions – good or bad – reflected on him. "My apologies Hokage-sama!" He said, bowing deeply once again. "I have the key to his apartment with me, if you'll just give me a moment!"

The Sandaime chuckled once again, before waving his hand slightly at the now frantic Chuunin. "There is no need, Iruka-kun. I have a copy of my own."

The Hokage reached calmly within his robe and took out a single key tied to a bright yellow string. He then slowly unlocked the door, before placing the key back within his robe, and finally turning the knob and pulling it open.

Only for he, and Iruka-san, to find nothing.

Naruto's living room was nearly empty. All the assorted trash – mostly empty ramen cups – and debris was gone. The only thing remaining was a filthy and taped over couch, and even it was pushed far over into one corner. As if to emphasize how empty the room was.

For the first time in quite a number of years, the Sandaime was struck speechless. Such a sight – and all the implications therein – had not even once flashed through his head as a possibility when he had begun to open his pseudo-grandson's door.

"Naruto…?" He heard Iruka call out softly beside him; rather pointlessly he was forced to think. It was obvious the boy was no longer here.

Sarutobi himself wasted no such time.

"Anbu!" He shouted out, not flinching as the three guards which had followed him after he left the tower, now surged into Naruto's small apartment.

He placed his hand reassuringly on the now panicking Iruka's shoulder; while his soldiers searched the room for sign of a struggle or any other foul-play. The Hokage felt like kicking himself. There was always a higher risk than average that someone could attempt to abduct Konoha's jinchuuriki, and for him to have not put a larger guard on Naruto after an attempted enemy action by _Orochimaru_ of all people was the height of foolishness.

Now that he considered it, he wasn't sure that Naruto had been under any guard _at all_ after he had left the Hokage tower last night. All of the usual shinobi he assigned to the blonde's security detail had been out with the other Anbu, searching for the boy after he'd stolen the scroll. They had only come back long after the boy was probably already asleep in bed, and he'd simply dismissed them.

Kami-sama… His relief the night before must have made him lose his senses. Either that or he really was becoming too old for this job.

He quickly silenced his self-recriminations when one of his Anbu reappeared crouched in front of him.

"Report!" The force of his voice – though quiet – and the sheer presence he was giving off causing Iruka to shake a bit under his gently grasping fingers.

"Hokage-sama." The nameless soldier said coldly. "There is no sign of foul-play or forced entry…" He then paused a moment, before pulling a folded piece of paper out of his pocket. "This was found on the boy's bed."

The Sandaime slowly took it from the man's hand, thoughts of something almost worse than abduction now flying through his head.

He slowly unfolded the letter, and kindly ignored the wide eyed Chuunin who was blatantly reading it over his shoulder.

_Dear Jiji or Iruka-sensei,_

_I'm guessing this is probably going to be found by one of you… No one else has ever been to my apartment before, so unless the one reading this is my landlord asking for the rent again, I'm thinking that you guys are a pretty decent bet._

_Oh, and on the off chance that it is my landlord: Back off Yamazaki-teme! I already paid for this month, and I shouldn't have even done that, since you've never shown up to fix the sink, or the shower, or any of the other hundred-plus things I've told you about! Go rot in hell you stingy bastard!_

Sarutobi could feel Iruka tense under his hand at that part of the letter, though he could sense that the Chuunin's emotions were split between anger at the landlord, humor at what Naruto had written, and a far larger and overwhelming sense of worry about the letter in general.

As far as the first set of emotions, Sarutobi had no such conflict. He would be speaking very seriously with a few members of his Anbu tonight. They had assured him that they had spoken to Yamazaki-san, and that everything was taken care of.

As far as the third… His emotions mirrored Iruka-kun's.

_But, if it is either Jiji or Iruka-sensei… Well, first I want to tell you how sorry I am. Sorry that I was such a bad student, and such a bad… well… I've never really been sure what I was to you, Jiji… I mean, I call you grandpa, but we both know I'm not really your grandson. _

_I guess, if nothing else, I'm sorry for not becoming the great shinobi I always told you I'd be. For not taking that hat away from you, and giving you the nice lazy retirement you deserve. _

Sarutobi only stopped himself from getting choked up due to the presence of the surrounding Anbu. The Hokage must be steady as a mountain; even when drowning in his own regrets.

_After falling for Mizuki's stupid trick, and almost getting Iruka-sensei killed, I finally figured out what it seems like everyone else has already known for a while now. I've never been cut out to be a shinobi. _

_I don't know what it is I'm lacking, but I know I'm lacking a lot of it. I've been dead-last ever since I started at the academy; failed almost every test, fudged almost every jutsu, and lost almost every spar. I think it's time I stopped fooling myself. _

_And now after finding out about the Kyuubi… Well, I figured it might be better for everyone if I just left. I know most of the villagers don't want me here, and as for the few who do, well, I can't help but feel like I've only made their lives worse._

_I know that old man Ichiraku and Ayame-neesan aren't making half the money they could be, and that it's mostly my fault. I've watched customers pull back the curtain and then suddenly decide to leave after they see me. They always tell me not to worry about it, but I can't keep ignoring what my being there is doing to their business._

_You guys, Jiji and Iruka-sensei, will be better off as well. I don't even know how much time the both of you have had to spend dealing with all of my pranks, and the other stupid stuff I got up to. I really am sorry for giving you both so much trouble. _

_I'd like to give more examples, but I think you four are pretty much the only people who will miss me; or at least who I hope will miss me. _

_Maybe I'll come back someday; after I've made my fortune somewhere or something. If so, I'll make sure to pay you both back for all the ramen you bought me over the years._

_Thanks for taking care of me, and putting up with me,_

_Uzumaki Naruto._

_P.S.: Hey, Iruka-sensei, I doubt she'll miss me at all, but if you could thank that one weird girl in our class, Hinata, I'd really appreciate it. She was always nice to me when we got teamed up for something, even if she never really said much. _

Sarutobi ignored the shocked Chuunin beside him, and quickly began to issue orders. He would have more than enough time tonight to torture himself for what had happened. Right now, he needed to focus on getting Naruto back. "Anbu! I want a full grid search done of the village! While that's happening, inform the Commander of the Hunter-nin that I expect two full units ready to move within the next twenty minutes! I want to see Uzumaki Naruto in my office alive, unharmed, and in good spirits by nightfall!"

He didn't need to ask if he was understood, each of his guards had already disappeared, heading off in separate directions. He left Iruka standing at Naruto's front door, swiftly making his way back towards the Hokage tower. He had a letter to write.

Jiraiya-kun would kill him if he didn't inform him of his godsons' disappearance.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"How about Toshi? Toshi seems like a kinda heroic name."

Naruto looked grumpily over at what he was still calling his 'boss clone'. It was currently in the shape of a lanky, middle aged man whose features were close enough to his own that most would suspect a familial connection. He hadn't originally planned to keep it around at all, but it had successfully argued that very few travelers traveled alone. Especially twelve year old travelers.

Thus the conversation.

"So I take it you're not a fan of Toshi?" The clone said, after Naruto's silence had lingered on.

They were currently around four hours travel from Konoha. Well, civilian travel that is; they'd both agreed it was too risky for two random strangers to move at shinobi-level speed this close to the village. They'd be moving at a snail's pace until they cleared the furthest Konoha outpost. Which was at least another two days travel away.

This left a lot of time for thinking. And for regrets.

"How about Hitoshi? That's got an interesting ring to it."

Naruto glared a bit more at his clone, before finally looking down at the ground and speaking softly.

"I feel like an asshole…"

"Why? Because you don't like Hitoshi? Don't worry about it, we got a long walk ahead of us, and probably an even longer list of names to go through."

Naruto jerked his head up, and glared even more fiercely at his companion. "No! I feel like an asshole because of that letter we left for Iruka and the Hokage! They're some of the only people who have ever treated me even halfway decent, and the last words I had to say to them were more or less designed to make them feel like shit!"

His clone stared at him for a moment, before looking up at the cloudless sky above them. Allowing a brief silence to linger between them.

"Was anything you wrote down untrue?" It finally asked.

"What!?" Naruto blurted out. "What are you even talking about!? I didn't write that, you did!"

"Yes," his clone responded calmly. "And I'm you, with all your thoughts, all your memories, and your exact same perspective on everything that happened in your life before you made me pop into existence a little over twelve hours ago." The clone then turned to stare at him. "Was any of it untrue?"

"Of course it was!" Naruto protested weakly, not sure how he felt about losing an argument with himself.

"Which parts?" The clone asked, now turning to stare back down the road. "The parts where we told them that we were sorry? We are sorry. Sorry that we aren't, and can't be the people they either think we are, or want us to be." Here he glanced back at Naruto again. "The things we said about failing at the academy? About not being cut out to be a Shinobi? We may have failed on purpose, but we still failed. And we know we're not cut out to be a shinobi. That's the whole reason we're out here after all."

"Yeah…" Naruto said, not really arguing the point anymore. "But we didn't need to put everything in such a bad light…"

"Do you want to go back?" The clone asked. "You are the boss here after all. I'm just a floating bunch of chakra mixed with memories and other complicated crap like that. It's always been, and always will be, your choice. Heck, they have nothing to tie us to those stores losing all that money; and with all the jutsu scrolls we copied, I'm sure you could be one hell of a shinobi. Though you might have to be careful about what you show off bu-"

"No." Naruto interrupted, his face transforming from sorrowful to determined in a flash. "You're right. I decided on this path for a reason. I won't just end up being some glorified murderer."

The clone couldn't help but appreciate the transformation which occurred beside him. What was once a sulking, depressed child was now a fearless and determined young man; a young man with a dream that he wouldn't let be unfinished. A young man that was going to _change things._

This, _this _was the person who had created him.

"As you say, boss." The clone replied, suddenly feeling much more cheerful. "Where are we heading anyway? You never said before."

"Someplace we can lose ourselves in training for at least a few months. Someplace Isolated."

"And that would be?" The clone asked, quirking his eyebrow.

"Wave."


	3. Chapter 3

**This is a slightly shorter chapter. It's main purpose is to set down what the current situation is, so that things can start to get a bit more interesting.**

**As always, I do not own Naruto.**

The Sandaime Hokage sat stiffly in his chair, fingers clenched around a cold pipe, and with even colder eyes gazing down at the two shinobi kneeling before his desk.

The commanders of his Anbu and Hunter-nin forces were experienced shinobi. Both had lived through war. Both had sent their brother and sister shinobi on missions they knew full well would have no survivors. Both had the blood of countless men, women, and children on their hands.

To the village, and even the greater shinobi community, both figures before him seemed made of ice. Cold. Calculating. Cruel.

Sarutobi felt some slight pleasure watching that ice crack before him, as his killing intent filled the room.

"I would like an explanation," Sarutobi began slowly. "As to why Uzumaki Naruto will not be among the Genin my Jonin-sensei will be collecting this afternoon… As to why, even after an entire _week_ of searching, you have not managed to collect _one_ stray academy student. One who, _at best_, had an eight hour lead on our forces."

Halfway through his statement, the Hokage's eyes went from cold, to filled with what looked like ferocious and angry flames. Flames which now burned into the two shinobi before him.

Both twitched slightly, feeling beads of sweat slowly beginning to form at their hairlines, and looked fleetingly at the figure beside them; as if hoping that they might have some miraculous news which would appease their angry leader.

Their actions did not go unnoticed by the Hokage. He slumped slightly in his chair, the killing intent filling the room slowly fading as his anger was replaced with an almost apathetic resignation. It was pointless to take his anger out on the men before him. Throughout the week they had – with his permission – already doubled the number of men and women involved in the search for the jinchuuriki; as well as spread it well past even the furthest estimate of how far Naruto would have been able to travel. All with the same result.

Nothing.

And to think, Naruto's outrageous and flamboyant behavior used to give him such headaches. Who would have ever thought the boy could become even more annoying by _not _being noticed.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

On an isolated and rocky beach at the edge of Fire country, our young hero sneezed, losing his grip on the branch he'd been eking out a few last pull-ups on and falling to the ground a few feet below, groaning.

The blonde's entire body ached, each muscle burning and twitching in self-inflicted agony. His wrists, ankles, and shoulders chafed under the weights his boss clone had mysteriously supplied him with a few nights ago (forcing him to wonder exactly how much inventory was even _left_ in the stores the clone had frequented in its shopping spree) and, for a moment, he couldn't help but ask himself what he was going through all this trouble for in the first place.

After a few minutes spent basking in delicious self-pity, he painfully turned his head to the side to stare at what his boss clone called "auxiliary training".

Somewhere between three to four-hundred clones were standing calf-deep in the calm ocean tide, each trying – more or less unsuccessfully – to stand upon the slowly ebbing and flowing waters. It was a comedy of errors, each almost accomplishing the task before losing its grasp on its chakra and splashing back into the sea. At any other time he would have felt sorry for the soaked group of clones (especially the ones who'd managed to off themselves by falling headlong onto hidden rocks or, once, stepping on a ridiculously pointy fish), but at this specific moment, all he could feel was envy.

_Those lucky little bastards._ He thought, even the mental action seeming to make his body twitch in protest._ They have no idea how easy they're getting off…_

He and his boss clone had worked out the idea of using the Kage Bunshin for training sometime during the long and boring walk to get outside the more heavily patrolled zones nearer Konoha. It was an incredible use for the jutsu in both theory and practice (they had managed to get that tree climbing technique down within just a couple days of reaching the beach!), but there were some downsides to its use…

"Oi! Boss! You can't laze around while the rest of us are working so hard over here! Come on! Get your lazy ass up and start going through katas again!"

Naruto groaned, but complied, briefly thanking the big hairy chakra beast within him for his accelerated healing (and trying not to think about the detailed report concerning said healing his clones had found in the Hokage's office. It had been dated not long after his birth! What had the bastards been doing to baby-him, carving him up with scalpels!?). He deliberately ignored the fact that the clone currently yelling at him (still transformed into a lanky, brown haired man) was sitting comfortably on the beach; its version of 'hard work' seeming to be the occasional shout – either of encouragement or recrimination – directed at the soaked clones below.

It had been decided after the clones' success at tree climbing (admittedly the idea had been primarily his suggestion, though the lanky bastard supported it whole-heartedly) that since he could utilize kage bunshin for things like chakra control and jutsu and affinity mastery, he would spend the vast majority of his time focused on what they weren't able to train in.

Things like speed. Strength. And muscle reaction time.

So, basically, hours upon hours of ridiculously strenuous exercise. The most relaxing part of his day was spent improving hand-seal speed; and even then the bastard had him doing squats.

Now on his feet, Naruto began going through one of the beginning katas of what had once been the Senju clan's personal taijutsu style. A few of his clones had already gone through and memorized the movements this morning – while he spent an exhausting three hours doing wind-sprints – so no time was wasted trying to make sure that his movements were correct. Instead, he focused on making each block, strike, and grapple as fast, strong, and technically perfect as he could; forcing his body to master a style that even the fearsome and arrogant Uchiha clan had respected.

He wondered, briefly, how much longer they'd be camped out on this beach. Ferries to Wave Island were few and far between. The island was mostly self-sufficient, and what outside profit they earned was usually in the form of fishing boats which dropped off their catch at local docks. And which didn't generally bring random passengers back home with them. This didn't bother Naruto overly much, of course. After all, one of the main reasons he'd chosen the island to be his training ground was due to its isolation and lack of traffic.

At first, he'd simply thought that they would have to lose a week or two of training time waiting for the Wave ferry to make its way to the sparsely populated fishing town at which it would occasionally make an appearance; but, after reviewing some of the information on chakra control exercises his clones had copied down back in Konoha, he and his boss clone had come up with a better idea.

_Or, perhaps, what seemed like a better idea at the time… _He thought to himself, glancing briefly again at the hundreds of sopping wet copies of him thrashing in the water._ Maybe I should send a clone back to that village to keep an eye out for the ferry... This could take a while…_

After a moment, he brushed that thought – and all others – out of his head, and focused solely on his training. If history held true, once he'd entirely exhausted himself the lanky bastard would send a dozen or so of those clones over to attack him. And if, again, the last few days were anything to go by, it would be a painful, humiliating, and overall incredibly useful experience. It was the last point which kept Naruto from dismissing the jutsu which held the ridiculously annoying, and rude, clone in physical form. Though the temptation to let the bastard go up in smoke grew larger every day.

During the last week, he'd more or less begun to understand why the boss clone was the way it was. It had been the first one he'd created, and at the moment he'd done so he had been awash in a feeling of exhilaration and success. For that brief moment he knew, _knew_, that he would succeed. That he would achieve his dream and become a hero whose deeds would be known across the entirety of the elemental continent. And that same spirit was imbued in every fragment of the clone.

It was more or less a physical manifestation of his ambition. Lacking all the doubts and fears which had assailed the real Naruto so ruthlessly the first few nights after they had left Konoha.

That was the real reason he kept it around, he supposed. As useful as it was to have someone here to push him forward – even if it was just another version of him – and act as a sounding board for ideas on training and the like; the confidence the clone seemed to have in him, in them, was even more valuable. It pushed him – and, to a lesser extent, the other clones – to do more during their training because it knew they _could_. Expected more from him because it fully believed in the potential Naruto had hidden deep within.

It was for reasons like this that he really couldn't find it in him to hate the bossy, overbearing, bastard.

"Oi! You twelve! Get your asses back up on the beach! The boss needs some sparring partners!"

Or not.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Jiraiya violently crushed his sensei's latest letter between his hands – inadvertently scaring away the messanger bird which delivered it – before crumpling the paper up completely and using a simple Katon jutsu to dispose of it. The latter done to both be rid of any evidence, and to sate his growing temper.

"How on earth could that old monkey not have found him yet!?" The Toad Sage grumbled to himself, beginning to pack up his belongings from the hotel room he'd been staying in. "The Brat's twelve for Kami's sake! It shouldn't have taken more than an hour for any competent shinobi to catch up with him! Has the old man started bulking up his Anbu ranks with fresh genin!?"

It didn't take him more than a few moments to gather his belongings, living on the road for as long as he had got one used to a fairly simple lifestyle. Ignoring the fact that he'd paid for three days when he checked in this morning – planning to ease his nerves with some 'research' down by the local hot springs – he immediately jumped out the small window when he was done, quickly making his way out of town.

The situation simply wouldn't allow him to sit still. Naruto's disappearance was a huge problem for him on both a personal, and a professional level.

On the personal level, well, he knew he hadn't been the best godfather to the boy. Certainly not as good as Minato had probably been hoping; but he had done his best.

Things after the Kyuubi attack had been trying for everyone, but no one more so than the village's elite Shinobi. Maintaining a strong front to the rival villages had been difficult; most shinobi over B-rank in strength (or at least those who were still alive) were being sent on back-to-back missions just as a show of force. The genin of the time were all promoted early (nearly at war-time levels), generally put into the hands of an experienced chuunin, and then sent out to complete C-rank missions. Jonin were deemed too important to be wasted on babysitting, and D-rank missions were pushed to the side until the village finances were once again solvent.

Jiraiya himself had been so busy – split between managing his elaborate spy network and taking on S-rank missions the village could trust no one else with – that it was years before he was even able to return to Konoha; most missions being sent to him either via messenger bird or personal summon.

By the time he _was_ able to set foot back in the village, Naruto was already six, living by himself, and entering into his first year at the academy.

He did what he could – the money the Hokage gave the boy each month came from his account, and his sensei told him that the boy still had some of the presents he'd sent the old man to pass along – but, in the end, he decided the best way he could take care of Naruto was by making sure that the village stayed safe and protected.

Something which would be all for naught if the brat wasn't _in _said village.

But, as worried as he might personally be for his godson, looking at it from his position as spymaster and elite shinobi of Konoha made it much, _much_, worse.

The shinobi villages each hung in a delicate balance. Each one poised to take advantage of any perceived weakness, each ready to profit from another's loss. Jinchuuriki held a key place in that balance, their potential for sheer, destructive power something even the most potent shinobi were forced to respect.

If the other countries found out that the young, inexperienced, and likely fairly-disillusioned holder of the Kyuubi was wandering – free as a bird – across the elemental continent, he knew they would immediately send out forces to do one of two things.

Either attempt to convince the boy to join their shinobi forces. Something he didn't imagine would be too terribly hard, given the child's apparent depression at failing the genin exam and his less than stellar treatment at the hands of the villagers.

Or kill him. Before he could gain power enough to be a threat.

Both options would be disastrous for the village. And neither were something he even wanted to imagine happening.

It hurt his heart though, that his personal and professional sides were so split on which – if it came down to it – they would prefer.


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's Chapter four. **

**Once again, I do not own Naruto.**

Naruto grunted as yet another wave caused the surface beneath his feet to buck and shift.

What had looked, from the beach, to be a calm and placid stretch of ocean was proving to be a bit more chaotic now that he was in the middle of it. The fact that it was pitch black outside probably didn't help, but Naruto had figured a dozen or so fishing boats spreading word of twelve year olds walking on water would soon have Wave Island getting a lot more visitors from Konoha than he'd hoped for.

Thus, his current situation.

Naruto braced himself as he felt the ocean once more roiling beneath him. After the worst of it passed, he concentrated heavily on his chakra, and took a few more hesitant steps.

He doubted the island was any more than three-quarters of a mile off the coast –close enough that he could count individual trees from the shore – but if things kept as they were, he'd be lucky to get there by day-break.

Naruto chuckled a bit to himself, wondering if his chakra would even hold out that long, or if he'd end up swimming before this was all over.

_Either way, _he thought, grinning a bit despite his already looming exhaustion. _I'll certainly have mastered water-walking by the end of this._

_. . . . ._

Kakashi sighed, staring down at his soon-to-be genin team from a spot hidden in the trees. Normally, he would have spent the obligatory three hours of what he had always secretly called 'Obito time' either relaxing at home, or enjoying one of the many fine beverages served in Konoha's fantastic watering holes. Today, however, he thought it best that he observe his little chibi-shinobi as they met as a team for the second time.

To make sure they didn't kill each other.

He stifled a groan as screams once again filled the clearing beneath him, peeking over his Icha Icha to make sure things hadn't escalated to physical violence.

The team he was currently saddled with (and make no mistake, he _was _saddled with it. The council had made it clear that he _would _be passing the Uchiha) was, if anything, even more dysfunctional than previously planned. Kakashi's new third student, Ami – one of the many orphans of the Kyuubi attack, and an over-all average student in the academy – wasn't really interested in dealing with the personality quirks of either of her teammates. During team orientation she had snorted at both of her fellow genin when they had stated their dreams for the future (not without reason he would have to admit), and then, after they had glared at her, continued to lambast them; pointing out all of what she perceived to be their character flaws.

While doing so, she also continually referred to Sasuke as 'duck butt'. Something which took all his years of training as a Shinobi not to snort at.

He barely managed to get them settled down long enough to hear where his test would be taking place, and even then, was forced to give up his awesome exit in lieu of ushering them all away from one another before punches were thrown.

He'd admit that her ability to get under the Uchiha's skin – she had the boy white-knuckled and nearly spitting blood back on the school roof – was impressive, and pretty hilarious, but it really wasn't going to make Kakashi's life any easier.

"You take that back, Ami-baka! Sasuke's going to be the greatest shinobi this village has ever seen!"

Kakashi winced as the Haruno girl's voice echoed across training ground seven. She had quite a pair of lungs on her.

"You know Pinky, if you really want to fuck duck-butt over there so much, you should just ask him. If his balls have dropped yet, he might even say yes."

Kakashi chuckled a bit at the blush which exploded across both Sakura's and, oddly enough, Sasuke's faces. Orphans always did grow up a bit faster, he supposed.

At that, he was forced to think once again on a subject he had been trying very hard to keep his mind away from. The reason Ami was here in the first place.

Naruto.

He closed his eyes briefly, pushing back the swelling guilt. He knew full well that he had done nothing for his sensei's son. The son of a man who had been like a second father to him.

At first, he was simply too busy to really give any consideration towards interacting with the boy. Things after the Kyuubi's attack had been, hectic, after all. And after things had calmed down… well, there never really seemed to be a right time to become a part of the boy's life; especially since he couldn't explain to him why he was interested in the first place.

He'd finally decided to meet Naruto about a year into his time at the academy. He figured he could simply 'happen' upon the boy when he was at one of the training fields, and then, as any good jonin of Konoha should, pass along a few pointers. After that, their relationship could proceed normally, perhaps him eventually becoming something of a big brother to the blonde. That plan ended when he had taken a peek at the boy's test scores.

It pained him now to admit that he had been… disappointed. He couldn't understand how the son of two of the greatest shinobi Konoha had ever seen, one a Hokage no less, could be so… mundane. Less than mundane even. The boy had been as near to failing as someone could without being kicked out. The very dead last of his class.

He hadn't exactly decided not to meet the boy after that, but, it had made it… easier… to put off.

So easy in fact, that he had done so for another five years.

He had eventually helped justify his absence by becoming determined to be the boy's Jonin sensei. He'd even failed seven separate genin teams before this just to make certain of it – not that any of them really had what it took anyway – and made it a requirement to the council that, if he was to be forced to teach Sasuke, Naruto would also be on his team.

An effort which was looking to have been entirely pointless.

Groaning as he watched Sakura make a desperate leap at Ami to begin clawing at her hair, he closed his book and got ready to make a flashy entrance. Three genin were required for each team, after all. It wouldn't do to lose one so early.

. . . . .

_This… wasn't entirely what I expected._

It was still in the earliest hours of the morning, and Naruto was crouched alone and silent on the roof of what seemed like some kind of warehouse or repair shop. Laying out below him was Wave's only real village.

He had dismissed all of his clones before attempting his difficult journey across the ocean, even the persistent one he'd held onto since Konoha (and boy was that a headache. Keeping a clone active for over a week wasn't something he thought he'd try again anytime soon), so there was no one else to share in the sight currently in front of him.

He'd obviously never been to Wave before, but all the reports he'd read from shinobi passing through the area painted it as a, not particularly prosperous, but overall pleasant and happy community.

Not… This.

A palpable air of fear and depression shrouded the small village. Garbage and debris lay piled up untended in corners or on the side of buildings, while the buildings themselves were pockmarked by peeling paint and broken shutters. The reason for this neglect was easily understood once the villagers themselves exited their homes, and began to complete their morning chores.

Naruto watched as they moved together in small groups, deeply eyeing every shadow and routinely glancing up and down the large road leading to and from the village; obviously afraid to be alone. Noticing a small group of women speaking in hushed but hurried whispers as they collected water from the town well, Naruto decided to sate his burgeoning curiosity.

With nary a hand seal or puff of smoke, the boy disappeared, and a small ground squirrel was in his place. A ground squirrel which was entirely ignored as it speedily made its way down the warehouse wall, and over to its goal.

"-know how Tsunami is?" was the first thing he heard as he came close. The speaker was a woman in her early thirties. Her clothes looked as if they might have been moderately expensive when new, but were now nearly wore through with use and constant washing. Naruto quickly noticed the others were dressed more or less similarly.

"About as well as any of us would be…" a younger woman responded, her eyes briefly losing their panicked look, and filling with sadness. "We managed to pack up most of the important things, and got her and little Inari off to her father's place. He lives up further in the hills, so we're hoping Gato's men don't know about it." Her hands gripped the bucket tightly for a moment. "Tsunami clung to Kana-san for dear life the whole time, and Inari had to be forced to walk. Neither one said a thing."

All were silent for a moment. The only sound the gush of water as it was poured into skins, or wooden tubs.

"This has to end…" One of the older women finally said. "What little money we had saved away is already gone, and now Gato's men are demanding the very food from our mouths. My husband and I both thought Kaiza would be able to change things… but now…"

All of the women slowly bowed their heads, as if in reluctant agreement.

After a few moments, the youngest there slowly raised her head. "maybe-"

Whatever the woman was about to say was quickly silenced as a loud crash echoed through the village. Every woman there quickly spun about, bodies stiffening, to stare at what had caused it. Naruto himself had to dash around the well to get a view. None of the women even twitched as the small rodent dashed between their feet.

When he made it around, his eyes were easily able to take in the spectacle which had frozen Wave village solid.

A man lay moaning in the splinters of what had once, assumedly, been his own front door. Even from this distance Naruto could see he had been brutally beaten. His eyes were both already beginning to swell. The skin around them, and across his entire face, beginning to yellow and darken. By the way he lay – curled onto one side and carefully holding at his chest – Naruto felt sure he also had a number of internal injuries.

He was interrupted from his observation of the man by a high-pitched scream which rang out from behind the ruined door, followed after by a young woman being dragged into the street by two rough-looking men wearing swords. Both men seemed to be chuckling as they pulled the woman through the wreckage. Large smiles painted on their faces.

At the sight of the teenaged girl – tears falling down her face as she struggled futilely with her attackers – a bolt of electricity seemed to race through the villagers, each of them jerking in place, their fingers tightening on whatever was in hand. For a moment, Naruto was sure that they were going to confront the two men. Going to stop this criminal act in its tracks. He was disappointed not a second later as their grips slackened, and they each began to turn their heads to the ground. Eyes brimming with fear, grief, and a soul devouring look of guilt. As if they knew what happened here today would follow them for the rest of their lives, but could still not get up the courage to move.

"Oi!" One of the men shouted out to the village at large, his grin only widening as he saw villagers twitch at the sound. "It seems some of you didn't get Gato-sama's message the other day. We thought after the little example we made of that bastard, Kaiza, you would stop with all your childish misbehavior." He stomped painfully on the man still lying in the street, ignoring both the moans coming from beneath his foot, and the loudening screams from the woman in his arms. "Raizen-san here thought he could get away with not paying his debts. Normally this would be grounds for execution, but you're in luck. The kind and generous Gato-sama has only instructed us to take his daughter, so that she might pay them in his place."

The man in the road seemed to regain a bit of strength at this, reaching up to tug uselessly at the thug's pant leg. A swift kick to the face put paid any plans the man might have had.

The thug in charge, a slightly smaller man with beady eyes and a rough beard, then passed the girl entirely over to his comrade, squatting down to pat the broken father on his head.

"Don't worry, Raizen-san. You'll see your little girl again." That sick smile once again appeared on the thug's face, replacing a look of false pity. "Although it may take a bit of time. After all, there's the addition to the interest for non-payment, plus the cost of us coming all the way out here to transport her to where she'll be working. Oh, and let's not forget the cost of her… training…"

The expressions of both men suddenly turned lustful, and the shrieks of the woman more high-pitched as the one holding her dug his finger deeper into her flesh.

After that, the lead thug stood up, and they both began to slowly leave the village – dragging a now hoarse girl along with them.

No one in the village moved. Eyes fixed utterly on the ground below them, they tried desperately to ignore the desperate cries of the girl slowly fading away, and the whimpered moans of the man right in front of them.

Eventually, a couple of the village women rushed over to give the now-unconscious man aid, while most others hurriedly got back to their tasks.

In their haste, no one noticed a very determined looking ground squirrel running quickly towards the village exit.

. . . . .

The thugs had stopped for an early lunch. After starting a fire and tying up the now much more passive girl – her screams long having turned to silent and resigned tears – they began relax while they cooked up a bit of meat taken from the village before they left.

Unbeknownst to them, silently watching from a near-by tree, a young boy was going through a moral crisis.

_**You knew it would come to this. **_A voice, reminding him strangely of the annoying clone whispered through his head.

_I could just knock them unconscious, _he argued weakly against himself. _And then take the girl back to her father before they woke up._

_**And simply leave them to continue committing these acts wherever they may wander? You heard them talking between each other while they traveled. Bragging about their vile exploits, telling joyful stories of rape, murder, and exploitation. Perhaps a bit of it was exaggerated in an attempt to further frighten the girl, but that may as well count as another sin stacked against them. **_

Naruto halted his inner monologue briefly, to stare at the men below him. They were laughing riotously around the fire. Currently telling the girl – who had long since rolled over to show her back to them – about how Gato usually let his boys have at least a little taste of whatever product they brought in. He felt bile fill his throat at how genuinely happy it seemed to make them to terrorize the teenager.

_If I do this, what separates me from being a shinobi? What separates me from people just like them? People who casually murder without thought of consequence?_

The voice seemed silent for a moment, as though digesting the question.

_**What separates us from shinobi, **_it finally said, _**is that they would not raise a hand to save this girl unless paid to do so. And as for the bandits, well, this whole conversation has been about the consequences of our actions. Now we have to choose. Will we sacrifice the wellbeing of innocents, by letting these monsters live? Or will we sacrifice a piece of ourselves, by forcing them to die? **_

Naruto tightly clenched the kunai in his hand, feeling the truth of those words fill him. If he were to leave these men here unconscious, they would eventually awaken. And after awakening, each action they took, every life they ended, would, in some small way, have been caused by him. For not taking action at this very moment.

_**We both knew this path wouldn't be easy. We both knew that there would be hard choices to be made. This is simply the first.**_

Naruto slowly closed his eyes.

. . . . .

Aiko curled in on herself further, trying desperately to ignore what the two men were saying.

When Gato first came to wave, it seemed a boon. A rich man interested in investing in the local village, interested in turning the tiny island of Wave into a major hub of commerce. Many men, her father included, had rushed at the chance to become part of that hub.

Gato had offered low interest loans, saying his intention was to bulk up the economy by adding more business. Her father had used such a loan to purchase two hardy freight ships, intending to send them out to ports in lightning country to purchase large amounts of the country's unique medicinal herbs. He expected trading such things to fire country would end up with him making a tidy profit.

What he did not expect were both of his ships being taken by pirates only days after leaving the Lightning country ports. By pirates later found to have been funded by Gato.

This happened to all too many of the men in the village. Gato would supply the money, and even bring in what he called 'dependable sailors' from outside Wave in order to work the ships, then show up shortly after to take both the ships, and the navigation charts their captains used, for himself.

Still with the large debt hanging over their owners, of course. A debt which was enforced by those same sailors Gato had so thoroughly recommended.

And now to 'pay off' that debt, she was about to be sent to one of the many brothels the little pervert owned. Probably the first of many of the village women who would suffer the same fate.

"Oi! You respond when we ask you something, you little whore!"

She quickly found herself jerked back around, staring into the smaller man's face. His foul breath washed over her as he took a grip on her chin.

"Were we not interesting enough for you, princess?" He asked, in a saccharine coated voice. "No? Or, maybe you were just getting too caught up in all the stories we were telling, eh? Did you go and get yourself all excited? Maybe want the fun to start a little early?"

She couldn't help the tears which continued to fall from her eyes as she stayed silent. Clenching her teeth together to stop herself from crying out. She saw how much they enjoyed it when she'd began begging them to let her go, and, at the very least, she wouldn't give them that pleasure again.

"Aw, looks to me like she does. What do you think, Kurou?" He turned to look at the second man, who was currently nodding stupidly, a gleam in his eyes.

"Well," he said, turning back to her, and reaching a hand towards his belt "I'm certainly not one to disappoint a la-"

It happened faster than her eyes could follow. She didn't see anything until something impacted the smaller man's head, throwing him to the side. Her eyes briefly followed his decent, only faintly aware of the blood splattering on her cheek. The body hadn't even hit the ground before a shockingly loud cracking sound echoed across the clearing.

She turned her head back around, to see the larger of the two men falling as well, his head twisted almost entirely around. She didn't notice the boy until the second body had hit the ground, he was perched on the bigger man's back almost riding the body to the earth below.

In the seconds after the death of the two men, when her mind was attempting to cling onto things which made sense amongst the chaos, all she could think of was that she didn't remember babysitting him before. Which was odd, since she'd looked after everyone in the village around his age at one time or another.

Then he began to walk towards her, and she felt paralyzed by fear.

This boy was not from the village. Not from the Island at all. His brown hair and green eyes wouldn't have passed as too uncommon amongst their community, but no one on Wave Island could have ever walked like the boy did.

It was like when the man had been struck by what she could see now was a kunai. She saw the end result of every step, but it felt like she missed a thousand movements in between. As if he could disappear at any second.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" he asked, making her jump. After a few moments, when she realized she was simply staring at the boy, she began to shake her head back and forth.

"Good," he replied in a soft voice "now I'm going to cut these ropes off of you, so stay still, okay?"

She didn't respond so much as simply freeze solid, watching as the boy took another kunai out of a pouch hidden in his pants.

"A-are you a shinobi?" she found herself asking. Only to quickly berate herself for doing so when she felt the boy go suddenly still.

"No…" he finally answered, his voice low, and strangely sad. "No, I'm not."

He finally finished cutting through the ropes, and she felt herself unconsciously moving to rub at her wrists. She could have kicked herself for what blurted out of her mouth next.

"Then what are you?"

The boy stilled again, before giving her a thumbs up, and what was obviously a fake smile. Guilt and, something else echoing in his eyes.

"I guess I'm a hero."

Then, before she could blink, he had grabbed the two bodies, and all three of them disappeared.


	5. Chapter 5

**And here's number five. **

**As always, I hope you enjoy, and I don't own Naruto.**

The bodies weighed nothing. All the weariness which had cumulated from his late-night trek across the ocean, the heavy weights still chafing at his wrists, ankles and shoulders, the exhaustion from being awake for over thirty-six hours – all of it – had disappeared.

It wasn't the death of the men now hanging loose in his hands which left him feeling this way. No, he had taken all the guilt, self-doubt and remorse that decision had caused him, and shelved it somewhere deep within. He would deal with it eventually, but, at the moment, he did not have the time to do so.

He did not have the time, because killing those men was only the first of two decisions he had made in that clearing. And it was the second which had washed the ache away from his tired muscles, which was now forcing his brain to work at speeds which rivaled Konoha's Nara clan.

By killing those men. By saving that girl. He had chosen to place the citizens of Wave under his protection.

And now, before Gato would be able to spill even a single further drop of their blood, he would first have to litter the ground with every ounce of Naruto's.

When he reached a suitable looking clearing, he quickly dumped the bodies to the ground and made a brief check of his chakra stores. Seeing that he had just enough to accomplish what needed to be done, he quickly made a single hand seal.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

There was far less smoke than usual, slightly due to all the practice Naruto had been given over the few days, but mostly because of the much smaller number Naruto was currently able to summon. Only a dozen clones currently stood before the boy, and even that number had him bowed over and breathing hard.

"Eight of you will stand guard over the village and its people!" He shouted out after getting back his breath. "Keep yourselves transformed into something inconspicuous unless you're needed. And try to keep at least one clone stationed at the village itself at all times. I assume the rest of you will probably be forced to follow its citizens as they leave for work and whatnot."

He then turned to look at the last four on the side. "You four! Your first task is to take care of these bodies. I don't want anyone finding them before there's nothing left but bones, understood!? After that, get back to the clearing where we saved the girl and keep following that path westward. That seemed to be where the bastards were going, so I assume that's where this Gato asshole has set up his headquarters. By the end of the day I expect to know everything there _is_ to know about him, the people he employs, and his plans for this Island! Dismissed!"

It took only a moment for the twelve clones, and two bodies, to disappear from the clearing. Naruto was once again alone. He slowly stumbled over and collapsed against a tree. Whatever exhaustion his sudden determination had gotten rid of, that final jutsu had brought back ten-fold.

His last thought, before falling into a deep and untroubled sleep, was that his training mission wasn't going exactly as planned.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Aiko was limping by the time she finally managed to make it back to town. She hadn't noticed her twisted ankle until after the… boy… had already taken the two bodies of her captors and left. Not that she thought she would've had the guts to mention it to him even if she had noticed.

She groaned in relief when the first houses started to appear, and let out a yell when she saw Miruku oba-san tending a small field just on the village outskirts.

After the old woman noticed Aiko, she let out a yell of her own, and before long a good portion of the village was rushing down the road towards her.

When they reached her, the silence she'd walked alone in for the last few miles was quickly broken as dozens of questions flowed from the mouths of each person present. Her voice was among them as she desperately asked after her father. This only ended when Isao, the village blacksmith, noticed she was having trouble standing; at which point he nudged everyone out of the way, gently took her in his arms, and directed everyone back to the village.

She found herself holding on to the man a bit harder than she might have normally. Isao was her father's age and had been something like an uncle to her while she was growing up. It felt wonderfully warm and safe to be in the arms of someone she trusted after everything that had happened. He even made sure to tell her that her father was safe, and currently in the skilled hands of the village doctor, without her having to ask again.

He only put her down once they'd reached the front porch of his shop, and even then – as if sensing how reluctant she was to let go – he still kept one large arm wrapped around her.

"Aiko chan" He said, once the other villagers had gathered closer "What happened out there, how…" Here he closed his eyes briefly, face scrunching up in shame "…how did you get away from those two men?"

Akio blinked a couple of times, looking back and forth at the crowd of people staring at her, all in rapt attention; before finally her eyes widened, realizing exactly what a story she had to tell.

"Well…" She started off hesitantly. "There was a boy…"

. . . . . . . . . . .

"Please! Father, please don't leave so soon! You can wait at least a couple of days, right? A couple of days won't change anything!"

Tazuna turned back around to face his daughter, heart breaking as he saw the tears gleaming in her eyes.

"Tsunami, I'm sorry." He said, reaching up to cup her cheeks. "With Kaiza gone…" He stopped speaking when those tears finally escaped her eyes, moving closer to pull his little girl into a hug, ignoring the dampness which soon began to seep through his jacket. "With Kaiza gone, the village, and the bridge, no longer have any protection. We need this bridge, Tsunami. It's the only chance we have to get this Island and its people back on their feet. I have to go to Konoha."

There was a moment of silence between them then. He could hear the house begin to settle, hear the quiet sound he knew was Inari sobbing in his bed upstairs. It seemed to Tazuna that his daughter was hesitant to speak.

"Father…" She finally said, voice soft, and weak, with a tone of desperate pleading. "I don't know if I can deal with this alone…"

It further shattered him to hear his daughter sound so destroyed. She had always been so strong, able to weather bad harvests and crushing storms, standing as a rock for her family in hard times. Kaiza had admitted to him once that it was this quality which he found more attractive than any other. Even over her rather noticeable good looks. He, Wave's hero, had admired how calmly she could face disaster, how ably she brushed off strife.

To see her standing before him now, looking so broken…

Tazuna hardened his heart.

"I'm sorry…" He said, feeling gutted when she bunched her fingers tighter in his shirt, as if begging him to reconsider. "It won't be long, just a little over a week, two at most. I promise."

He felt her nod silently into his chest, before turning away to walk up the stairs, not once looking at him. No silence had ever felt so damning.

He held back tears of his own as he reached down to pull on his pack, before heading towards the door.

On his way out, he grabbed a couple large jugs of sake. It had been years since he had indulged beyond the occasional cup after dinner.

That was a habit he expected was about to change.

. . . . . . . . . .

Naruto sat cross-legged in the middle of the same clearing he'd spent the night in, engaged in what seemed to be a staring contest with a clone sitting directly opposite him.

He'd awoken early that morning, chakra restored, and head full of worrisome information about Wave's Tyrant, Gato. The only good news included being that the man hadn't yet noticed the disappearance of two of his men.

Deciding that – given the threat inherent in this situation – two heads were better than one, he spent the first twenty minutes of his morning seeing exactly how much control he had over the Kage Bunshin no jutsu.

When the sixth clone he summoned appeared wearing a red headband, he knew he'd succeeded in his task.

"So…" The boss clone finally said. "The stumpy little bastard has over three hundred thugs – about half of the entire civilian population – strategically located in various spots across the island. Including one little… bunker, thing… hidden about five miles away from the village. One filled with bandits whose only purpose is to slaughter the lot of them if they start to get a bit rowdy."

"Don't forget about the rumor that Gatos already in negotiation with a group of missing-nin." Naruto replied, chuckling slightly. "I really put my foot in it this time, didn't I?"

"Well, you certainly didn't start small, I'll give you that." The boss clone grinned back at him. "But then, we didn't leave Konoha with grand plans to change the tiny things, did we?"

Naruto gave the clone a small, determined smile. "No. We didn't." Then he jumped to his feet. "That said, where should we start? There are so many ways this could all go wrong, I don't even know where to begin."

"Well," the clone said, mimicking the original. "We're definitely going to need to put a good number of clones on jutsu training. The biggest threat we have is the possibility of missing-nin. If we do get in a fight with shinobi, I'd personally feel better if we had a few more techniques under our belts. Hell, if we pop out one of the big, nasty ones we got from the Hokage's office, the little bastards might even get scared and run off."

"As disheartened as I am hearing that your first idea includes bluff tactics, I have to agree. I guess that means I should find out my elemental affinity. Do you remember where you guys pu-"

"Twelve down on the big scroll, and then six down on the one that pops out." The clone grinned seeing Naruto give him a rather disgusted expression.

"Right…" Naruto said, before following the clone's instructions.

After a few moments, he was holding a slim piece of paper in his hand, looking at it incomprehensibly. "I don't suppose you read up how to work the damn things, did you?"

The clone just stared at him a bit in consternation. "You know, you do get back all of our memories… You should already know all this…"

"Oi! You don't know what it's like when dozens of you bastards pop at once! If they're all sort of doing the same thing, it mostly melds together pretty well. But when you're bouncing around doing dozens of things at once… everything starts to get all… muddled."

The clone just raised an eyebrow. "I could pick dozens of holes in that, but to be honest we simply don't have the time. Thus, I'll just tell you to push chakra into the paper."

Naruto glared, but again followed the clone's instructions.

The end result was slightly anti-climactic. Naruto had expected glowing blue lights, or perhaps physical representations of the elements to begin to form around him. Instead, his paper just seemed to tear itself in half. He wondered briefly if he'd picked up a broken one.

"Well, looks like wind." His clone said, staring at the paper still in Naruto's hand. "That's kinda a good news, bad news situation actually."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, tossing the now useless paper to the ground, secretly happy he hadn't messed anything up.

"Well, the good news is that we won't have to waste our time looking through hundreds of jutsu just to find the ones that interest us. The bad news is that's because wind jutsu take up, by far, the smallest section of our little library. Though we did get a decent scroll on them from the Hokage's office. Written by some guy named Danzo."

"Wonderful," Naruto sighed. "We're just coming up roses today, aren't we?"

"Now, now. Don't get too disheartened. Like I said, that Danzo guy's scroll came from the Hokage's office. It's got some shit in there that I would definitely put in the 'big and nasty' category; so the depressing bluff-tactic option is still on the table.

"Gee." Naruto deadpanned. "You certainly know how to cheer me up.

"I try, boss. So, training is point number one on the 'shit we have to do to save the island of Wave and subsequently survive the week' list. I don't suppose you're up for choosing number two?"

All the humor drained from Naruto, leaving only a mountain of determination. "I figure we have two options." He said. "The first is to sacrifice a large number of clones to be put on twenty-four hour guard at both the village, and a number of small communities which have spread themselves further out. This leaves us light handed for training purposes, and really only treats the symptom of Gato's oppression, leaving the villagers safe only as long as they're under our watch."

"And the second?" The clone asked, his face also cast in stone.

"We strike first. Putting Gato on the back foot, and focusing his attention away from the villagers, and onto us. The problem with that tactic is that if he hasn't already hired missing-nin, he certainly will after the first attack."

"So, I suppose this is once again a matter of who to sacrifice."

Naruto nodded, before falling silent. The decision didn't take long.

"How many explosive notes do we have?"

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Kenta had been born the son of a farmer in rice country. It hadn't been a bad life he supposed, all things considered, but it was boring, and the days were long and tedious.

That had all changed the day he met up with Jun Tashigari in a local bar. The man had always been considered something of the black sheep of the village. His parents had died when he was in his teens, and he had spent the time since then working odd jobs, scamming local farmers and seducing any daughters said farmers might have. The entirety of the village hated him, only putting up with the man due to some sense of ownership.

Kenta admired him.

While Jun was on the tip of everyone's lips the second he passed, Kenta was entirely ignored. While Jun was quietly mooned over by young girls looking for adventure, Kenta was brushed off as 'that nice boy they grew up with'. He was the common son of a common father who no one in the village commonly thought about whatsoever.

These were the reasons why when, after a night of perhaps a bit too much sake, Jun asked him if he was interested in leaving the village for good, for going off to a life of adventure, he readily accepted.

It was a decision he was beginning to regret.

Jun had gotten them a job with some big business mogul, supposedly acting as guards. That façade had been stripped away almost as soon as they had arrived on the island and been given their orders.

Jun had only laughed when they were informed of the deception, so Kenta tried to follow his lead, figuring he knew more about these types of people than he did. They were quickly assigned to a small group of buildings situated close to a local village. A village which reminded Kenta so much of home.

Their orders were simple, they were here to quell any kind of uprising which might occur. Here to murder the villagers down below if they angered the man that hired them.

Kenta felt trapped. Every last cent he owned was spent just to get here, and Gato was yet to pay them. He spent every day just praying that the villagers didn't revolt, praying he wasn't forced to make a decision which might haunt him the rest of his life.

Seeing a shadow flicker in the corner of his eye, Kenta quickly turned his head. Only to see everything exactly as it was.

Except for a small piece of paper now clinging to the wall beside his window.

_What is this? _He wondered briefly to himself, peeling the paper off the wall. _Did one of the guys decide to put up paper talismans? I suppose that's not the worst idea… If we ever did have to attack the village, we'd need all the protection we could get from angry ghosts…_

It was the last thought he would ever have.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Naruto crouched upon a nearby tree limb, refusing to take his eyes away from the burning rubble. Refusing to look away from the remains of the enemy camp.

Fifty-three men. That was how many he had callously killed. That was how many he had slaughtered while they were in their beds and at rest. How many he had assassinated.

There wasn't even a fight. He had simply snuck in and placed the tags while the oblivious bunch were sleeping, or playing cards. They had never even had a chance.

Still, in the end, his will held firm. The men in those buildings had chosen this. Chosen to come here. Chosen to help Gato subdue and exploit an entire community.

He would not go so far as to say that this was justice. Not go so far to say that their deaths, all fifty-three of them, were in anyway 'right'. From his own life experience, he already knew that there was no such thing as 'black' and 'white' in this world.

The deaths of these men had simply been a slightly lighter shade of grey. And sometimes that is enough.

The battle had begun.

.

.

.

.

**AN: It was suggested I place an author's note at the end of my chapters, and, as that suggestion seemed sound, here it is. I will use it to both help clear up any issues you may bring up in reviews, and ask questions you may feel free to respond to.  
**

**First, a question: Do you feel I am maintaining a decent level of realism for the characters and events (given of course that I am trying to maintain at least some connection with the canon storyline) or am I drifting far enough away that people (and things) are becoming unfamiliar? My wish is to create a Naruto with a different perspective and different dreams. Not a completely different person wearing Naruto's face.**

**As for issues, I will attempt to preemptively speak about one. That being: Jutsu from Danzo.**

**Anyone arguing that Danzo wouldn't give the Hokage any of the jutsu's he has secretly created has my complete agreement. My argument for Naruto being in possession of some of his higher-level wind techniques is the they were created, and used, during the last shinobi world wars. And thus Sarutobi, and others, were perfectly aware of them. His time since then has been spent attempting to manipulate the council and, eventually, training to master his stolen bloodlines.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Things will really start picking up soon, with the addition of Zabuza and Haku, as well as team 7.  
**

**Till then, **

**Tipsy.**

**PS: Do any of you know how I can get more space between my chapter breaks, other than periods? The lack of tabs in this format is annoying the fuck out of me.**


	6. Chapter 6

**So, here's Chapter 6.**

**I want to take a minute to thank all the reviewer for their kind words, and for answering the question I posted in the last AN.**

**I also figured out a way to break up the sections which I don't overly mind. So that's more or less taken care of.**

**As always, I don't own Naruto.**

**.**

**..**

**...**

**..**

**.**

"Are you certain your genin are ready to perform a C-rank mission, Kakashi san?"

At the Hokage's question the three genin in front of him ceased their begging and yammering, turning instead to pin Kakashi with two puppy-dog looks – complements of Ami and Sakura – and one 'I-might-hate-you-less-if-you-agree' glare.

Staring down at the three pre-teens, Kakashi felt himself in quite the dilemma.

On the one hand, none of his current genin were even close to being able to work as a group. And frankly, out of all of them he only trusted Sasuke to be able to fight off the random bandit which might appear. Well, maybe Ami, but that would come down more to luck and happenstance… and how much they had pissed her off.

On the other hand, if he didn't take the mission this genin might begin revolting even more than usual. Plus they would be all pissy and dramatic.

In the end, it was Kakashi's firm stance against unnecessary drama which took the day. Besides, he was one of the highest ranked shinobi in Konoha. If there was something on a C-rank mission he couldn't handle by himself, then his group's lack of teamwork would be the least of their worries.

_Maybe a bandit attack will wake them all up a little, force them to realize that this isn't just some kind of game... I doubt it could make things much worse at any rate._

Kakashi forcefully stopped himself from thinking that losing one or two genin wouldn't really affect his performance rating anyway. Though all the early morning headache sessions team seven called training (all of which he was actually having to be on time for!) were beginning to claw away at even his legendarily-passive personality.

"Hokage sama, I have the upmost faith in team seven's ability to complete this mission." Kakashi finally said with confidence. _I am on team seven after all, so that really isn't a lie._

The Hokage merely gave Kakashi a slightly dubious glance, entirely ignoring the three genin – two beaming, one glaring slightly less threateningly – and the slightly ruffled Chunin at his side, before tossing a scroll at the seemingly-unperturbed Jonin.

"Well, if that's your decision." The Hokage said lightly, before turning to one of his assistants. "Do you suppose you could ask Tazuna san to come in?"

The few moments they stood there in wait for Tazuna were some of the quietest and most peaceful Kakashi had enjoyed for the last two weeks. He basked in the silence while opening up the mission scroll. Seeing that it was nothing more than a contract for an escort job, he quickly turned his eyes back to his genin team. His calm, peaceful genin team.

_Is this what they're like when they're happy? _He thought, silently sighing in relief. _If this is the reward for giving into their demands, I might just have to consider doing it more often. What would it really cost me anyway? All I'd have to do is start shoving as many flashy jutsu as I can into Sasuke and Ami's tiny little heads, and then occasionally put Sasuke under a genjutsu so Sakura can get… whatever it is she wants… out of this situation. _

Just as Kakashi was gleefully imagining peaceful, sunlit afternoons with just him and his book – faint silhouettes of his genin dancing happily in the background – the Hokage's door creaked open to reveal what seemed to be a ridiculously intoxicated dockworker. He immediately felt his hopes dwindle.

"What!? I paid for shinobi, not a bunch of little brats!" The drunkard immediately yelled. Unknowingly fully stamping out the hope which had begun to spark within Kakashi's chest. "Hell, the black haired one looks like he'd faint at his own shadow!"

Seeing the once gleeful (or in Sasuke's case, slightly less angry) faces of his genin turn once more to stone, Kakashi knew his glorious dream was once more just that.

_Still, _He thought to himself, while absentmindedly preventing Sasuke from hurling a kunai at their client. _That was almost five whole minutes without someone being pissed off enough to commit bodily harm. A new team seven record._

**.**

**..**

…

**..**

**.**

Haku stood a few feet behind and to the right of her master, wondering idly if this time Gato would actually drive himself to an aneurysm in his rage.

The hall they stood in was disgustingly opulent, especially given the poverty which reigned outside the manor's walls. It wasn't quite what one would expect to see in the halls of a daimyo, or even a local lord, but that certainly wasn't for lack of trying. Haku thought the throne-like chair was a nice touch, though the numerous heads and skins of rare animals stuck her as a bit classless. She redirected some of her attention away from the gaudy decorations when their client began to speak.

"When I hired you on, you assured me that you'd be able to track down this terrorist in a matter of hours!" Gato sputtered in front of them. His tiny body seeming to vibrate upon the massive seat of his throne, making the whole thing look rather ridiculous. "It's been almost a week already! A week which has cost me nearly one-hundred men, three ships and my northernmost bunker! Do you have any idea what this is doing to my operations here!? The citizens feel like they have a guardian angel hovering over them! As if they have leave to do whatever they want! I need this man crushed!" He reinforced the final point by slamming his fist into the arm of the chair. The soft 'piffing' sound it made was less than impressive.

Zabuza stood in front of the little man with a rather placid expression on what little could be seen of his face, staring at the ceiling in obvious boredom. He only spoke once it was apparent that the tiny tyrant's rant was beginning to wind down. At which point he used his eyes, as well as a small amount of killing intent, to freeze the man in place.

"My assurance that we would have your 'terrorist' apprehended in a matter hours was based on your explanation of what we were dealing with. That explanation was _wrong_." Zabuza said in a cutting tone, drilling his eyes into Gato's now fearful ones and slowly increasing the amount of killing intent filling the room.

"You suggested he was some shinobi-wannabe villager. Someone who had gotten his hands on a few explosive tags and managed to figure out how to set them off. Nowhere in our initial discussion did you even hint that we would be dealing with a shinobi stealth-specialist. Which, seeing as he's managed to slip right past my subordinates to lay tags and slaughter your bandits, is a title he can clearly lay claim to." Here Zabuza paused, allowing his killing intent to leave the room and Gato to begin to relax once more.

"That said…" Zabuza began slowly. "The only reason he's still alive and well is because you're forcing us to play his game. If we continue to merely dance around in search of him, or try fruitlessly to guard locations he has already shown the ability to slip in and out of without trouble, then you can expect the current situation to continue…"

It only took a few moments of silence before Gato finally got the hint.

"W-what would you s-suggest?" He finally sputtered out.

Zabuza smiled.

"His actions suggest he's doing this for a reason. A reason based here, not due to some revenge he may owe you or your company. The first action we can directly link to him is the rescue of one of the village women, after your men had kidnapped her from her home."

"That was not a kidnapping! That man was default on his payments and my men had every righ-"

"You'll find I really don't care." Zabuza interrupted the man. "What I do care about is the fact that he has some obvious interest in protecting Wave's villagers. Look at his attacks. The first was critical of course, taking out a large portion of your men, as well as releasing most of the hold you had on the local people. After that, however, instead of continuing to hit major targets he instead began to focus on the block you'd created in the local harbors. If his main goal was simply your destruction, then those ships wouldn't have been anywhere near the top of his target list."

"Then why did he blow them up…" Gato asked nervously.

"Because the villagers were starving." Zabuza said. "He's been playing a defensive game this entire time, just two moves ahead of you. This is his weakness."

Haku felt a chill begin to enter her heart.

"So you mean…" Gato began

"We ignore him. We focus on the civilians. Smash their ships, raid their homes, even send the demon brothers after that bridge builder you're so worried about. Whatever. Either way, he'll eventually be forced to show himself to protect them. And when he does…" Zabuza grasped the hilt of the Kubikiribocho firmly. "I'll be there waiting for him."

**.**

**..**

…

**..**

**.**

_I'm so screwed… _Naruto thought absently while continuing his physical training. The newly increased weights helping to quickly burn his muscles to ash.

The last week had been a ridiculous stress test for both his transformation jutsu, and his overall stealth abilities. The rumor that Gato was hiring missing-nin was rather quickly shown to be true, the explosion from his second attack attracting four of them to the harbor with blistering speed. He'd only managed to avoid being caught because the clones he'd placed as lookouts warned him of their arrival; and even then he'd been forced to turn into a cricket to safely escape the area.

Still, as scary as that might have been, he didn't feel true terror until the following morning; when while shuffling through a few bingo books he found out who the shinobi really were. Or rather, who one of the shinobi really was. The huge sword and facial wraps made identification easier than it might have been otherwise.

Zabuza Momochi.

The Demon of the Bloody Mist. Former Anbu of water country. An A-rank missing-nin who once aspired to be a Kage, and nearly succeeded.

Fuck.

He spent nearly that entire morning cursing his luck. Pointlessly wondering why on earth Gato thought he needed to hire a near Kage-level shinobi to put down a small – and rather passive – civilian uprising on a tiny and ignored island nation. Then he doubled every level of his training.

He eventually managed to find information on two of the remaining three shinobi as well. The so called Demon Brothers of Kiri.

They didn't actually worry him overly much. In fact, had they been here alone, he might have even felt rather optimistic about his chances. They may have a great deal more combat experience than him, but between his secret training back in Konoha, and the ridiculous regimen he'd been on since leaving, he felt he was hovering just around chunin-level strength and speed. That combined with the huge increase the Senju style had given his taijutsu abilities, and a few wind jutsu which should turn their limited mobility – mostly due to their reliance on unique chain-based attacks – into quite the disadvantage, made him confident he could carry the day. Still, none of that really mattered given the situation. As it was, they were simply a couple additions to Zabuza's already immense advantage over him.

He couldn't find out anything about the fourth member of their little band. Something which Naruto figured could either be good, or extremely bad. Not that it mattered all that much given the odds already stacked against him.

"Oi, Boss."

Naruto halted mid-pushup to look over at his head clone. He'd more or less turned the red-bandana wearing version of him into the general of his private army. It was annoying to have to deal with the opinionated little bastard so often, but it was better than trying to keep everything sorted out by himself.

"We've got a report of movement on the north side of the island. Around thirty or so thugs are moving in the direction of the Tanaka settlement."

Naruto frowned slightly, wondering why they would be heading towards a group which had – to his knowledge – nearly nothing to do with the Gato Corporation whatsoever.

The Tanaka settlement was more or less inhabited by one large extended family. They were one of the only communities on the island which had nothing to do with either the fishing or shipping trade; focusing instead on farming and agriculture. This meant, however, that they were the largest supplier of local produce on the island.

"Do you suppose Gato's looking to close off other avenues for food, now that we've opened the harbor?" Naruto asked, getting to his feet.

"Don't know." The clone responded. "If anyone got close enough to hear anything, they didn't send it along. Just the troop movements."

Naruto frowned a bit at that. They'd had to stop carelessly dismissing clones due to chakra cost, which, given the fact that he had versions of himself spread across almost the entire length of the island, was understandable. Now they were communicating like any other force would, via letter and verbal message. It was surprisingly irritating.

"How many clones do we have near the Tanaka's?" He asked, beginning to take off his weights and shrug back into his shirt.

"Not all that many. We didn't expect them to be high-priority targets." The clone said with a frown. They were already behind the eight ball as it was. Gato switching tactics didn't bode well for them.

Naruto's face didn't look any different as he replied.

"Looks like I'm going to have to go myself then…"

**.**

**..**

…

**..**

**.**

Squirrel-Naruto approached the group of thugs carefully. Even if his instincts weren't already screaming at him, it didn't take a huge intellectual leap to know that there was something strange going on.

As his clones had reported, there were around thirty or so of Gato's men on the road below, each one decked out with swords as well as random scraps of armor pasted on wherever they could find room. It was fairly clear that these weren't just the standard shakedown artists. These men were going to war.

Curiously though, they didn't strut down the road with the same arrogance Gato's bandits usually exhibited – especially those moving in such large numbers. This group held none of the bragging and obscene storytelling he had grown used to, nor even any casual conversation. They walked in silence… but their silence obviously wasn't inspired by any newly happened-upon discipline.

It was inspired by terror.

He could literally see a few men shaking in their boots. And even the more composed among them kept casting fearful glances towards the center of their group, where a large, cloak-garbed individual walked with a three-foot circle of empty space around him.

_Well, _Naruto couldn't help but think as he skittered away from the men, and into the deeper forest. _This certainly isn't good._

He moved quickly through the underbrush, wanting to get out of earshot as fast as possible. He didn't know whether or not the cloaked man was shinobi, but he certainly wasn't just an ordinary bandit, and that meant a ridiculously higher risk to both him, and the Tanaka's, should this come down to combat.

Luckily, he'd already had a good number of clones placed near the settlement. All he had to do was create and disperse another, and they would swiftly swoop in and Shunshin – a wonderfully useful jutsu his clones had managed to master – the Tanaka's over to some family they had in the Village.

This was the only thought in his head as he entered a small clearing, and quickly shifted into human form.

"Now, that _is _impressive. Especially for such a tiny little runt."

Naruto froze, before slowly turning his head to look behind him.

There, languidly leaning against the trunk of a tree, stood the cloaked man from only minutes before. Only now the hood of the cloak had been pulled down to reveal a bandaged face and gleaming grey eyes.

"You know, I thought it was a summon at first; when I saw that squirrel go racing away from us." Zabuza said, pushing away from the tree and walking into the clearing. "I'd never heard of the squirrel contract before, but that didn't mean there wasn't one out there. Plus, a furry little friend would help to explain how you'd avoided all of our patrols. But this… _this_ is far more interesting… I'm guessing it's some kind of Kekkei Genkai?"

Naruto couldn't help but to gulp heavily, and then blurt out the first thing that crossed his mind.

"This really isn't going to end well for me, is it?"

Zabuza blinked at him. Before bursting out laughing.

"No, brat." He chuckled. "I rather doubt it is, unless you've got some other super-unknown jutsu hidden up your sleeve." Zabuza turned thoughtful for a moment. "Seems a bit of a shame though. Just what you've managed to do to Gato's forces shows you've got quite a bit of potential. What say we just tell Gato I killed you, and you join up with my group instead? I could help turn you into quite the shinobi."

"Is there any possibility that my doing so would have you leaving Wave peacefully, without harming any more of its citizens?" Naruto asked, some slight hope lingering in his voice.

"Not even slightly." Zabuza responded cheerfully. "Gato's really paying me a disgusting amount of money."

"Ah… Then I'm afraid I'll have to answer 'no'." Naruto said, wincing slightly.

"Shame."

**.**

**..**

…

**..**

**.**

"Tazuna." Kakashi said, still staring down at the fallen forms of the Demon Brothers. "Is there any specific reason you have chunin-level shinobi trying to kill you?"

The drunken bridge builder just gave him a pleading look.

Kakashi didn't personally find the following sob-story particularly moving, but it did seem to have an effect on at least two of his genin. As for the third…

"Were continuing." Sasuke said gruffly. "I'm not having my first C-ranked mission end in failure."

_Oh, if you say so then of course we're going, Uchiha san. Don't ask for my opinion, it's not like I'm the ranking shinobi in this team, or your Jonin sensei or anything. Let's just ignore my twenty-some years of experience and follow the orders of a twelve year old. _

Kakashi had found his thoughts drifting more and more to the sarcastic since he'd been saddled with a team. He wasn't sure he liked it very much.

"Ma, ma Sasuke kun." He finally said, holding back his irritation. "You can't just decide that for everyone. This will have to be a group decision." _And it's only _that _because I still feel confident I can handle anything up the road. There's no way anyone would spend the money on someone of my caliber just to kill a bridge builder, after all._

"What do you two think?" He asked, turning towards the girls. "I'll warn you, going forward might find us facing even stronger shinobi. The recommended, and safest, option would be to turn back."

He watched the girls muddle over the situation, Ami staring at the still-pleading eyes of Tazuna, and Sakura over at her crush. It was rather obvious what the end result would be.

They glanced over at each other, before nodding once.

"We'll do it Kakashi sensei." Ami replied. "Tazuna's village really needs our help, what kind of people would we be if we walked away now?"

_Smart ones. _Kakashi thought quietly to himself, publicly only giving the girls a confident nod.

"Besides," Sakura popped in "if Sasuke says we can do it, I'm sure we can! He was rookie of the year, after all."

Kakashi sighed, happy for the mask which was hiding his grimace, before turning around and flashing an eye-smile at the relieved bridge builder.

"Well, Tazuna san. It seems we'll be continuing this mission."

_Maybe I can a fake life-threatening situation or two as well. These kids are really in need of a scare, and I'd rather it happened under my control then at some point where it might cost them their lives._

**.**

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**AN: First off, let me apologize for leaving you at a cliffhanger as far as the Naruto-Zabuza fight. You can be assured that the next chapter will be coming soon.**

**I feel like I was bashing Sasuke and Sakura slightly in this chapter, but honestly these were the actions which first came to mind when I thought about their characters in season 1. Let me know if you feel differently.**

**Hope you enjoy,**

**Tipsy.**


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